ABSTRACT

The best word to describe Trevor Leggett is teacher. In that role he had the rare ability, found in only the best teachers, of seeking out and training the dormant creative talents which many people possess. He was born on 22 August 1914 in Brondesbury, north-west London, the youngest of three boys, the others being Maurice and Terence. Their mother, Isobel Mabel, a qualified nurse, came from a relatively wealthy Scottish family, named Pryce. Speaking of her, Leggett remarked that she was canny with money but, a true Victorian, she believed in paying well for good things. Ernest Lewis, the father, coming from a farming family, which was not too well off, always had a slight suspicion of luxury items and, while not actually disapproving, would refer to them as ‘de luxe’ objects. The father had been a child prodigy, giving public performances on the piano at the age of seven. As a violinist, one of the best of his generation, he was the leader for several years at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (and other venues) under Sir Thomas Beecham. In addition he was musical director at a number of theatres and also a first-class musical arranger, although he admitted to his younger son that he was no composer. In later years Leggett often regretted that he had not asked his father more about the brilliant but often capricious Beecham. There is no doubt that Leggett in his formative years was strongly influenced by his father’s musical talents.